Android emulator still slow as hell even with Intel image, why?

Quoting the documentation:

The software requires an Intel CPU with Virtualization Technology (VT) support

However, this is not necessarily enabled by default on every machine with a VT-capable CPU. Once again, quoting the documentation:

Virtualization extensions are typically enabled through your computer's BIOS and are frequently turned off by default. Check the documentation for your system's motherboard to find out how to enable virtualization extensions.

So, for example, on a Dell Latitude E6400 sitting to my right, there is a BIOS option for "Enable Intel Virtualization Technology" that you have to check.

Checking the 'use host GPU' option in AVD properties seems to make it a bit faster for me (still slow but usable).

In Eclipse: Window > android Virtual Device Manager > Choose your device > Edit > 'use host GPU' checkbox at bottom.

NOTE: If you are using laptop with nvidia hybrid graphics (GeForce G210M in my case) make sure you have it on high performance before running the emulator. Otherwise Virtual device wont find the graphic card and will crash.

Also apart of "Virtualization Technology" I enabled something called "VTd support" in BIOS. I have no idea what it is or what it does (no description in my BIOS) but either of the above mentioned actions fixed the issue for me